I've been playing for a little more than a year, but my first character was kinda made for me. My group is starting a side campaign to take a break from the main one and we made new characters. So this was my first time building one from scratch. I wanted to try an Arcane Trickster and this is what I came up with. I emailed this to our DM, but the party won't know some key details until they come out in the story.
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19-year-old Haseid (Human male) grew up in a prominent thieves guild. They've been paying off city officials in Amn for generations to cover up their operations. Haseid is very talented, but he was arrogant and frustrated that his skills weren't being properly recognized. He also believed he is destined to be one of the greatest thieves ever, partially because he feels he has innate magic potential (He has the Lucky feat and considers it a simple form of magic).
The Baron of Athkatla was one of the bribed officials, so he was considered off limits, but Haseid considered that a challenge to show off his skills. It wasn't about money, so he decided to steal something precious and sentimental to the Baron, a glass orb filled with moving smoke. Apparently, the smoke is the essence of a memory of the Baron's wife who died years ago. Haseid got the orb, but there was an arcane booby trap, so the Baron knows who took it. Haseid fled Amn with his best friend. He knew the Baron will probably send bounty hunters for him, so he came up with a nickname based on the Elvish word for destiny. Soon after leaving town, a dragon attack killed his only friend in the world. He met the rest of the party as he's tracking the dragon.
If the party asks, his name is Maran and he'll leave out the part about bounty hunters. He left Amn to learn magic, which he was planning on doing anyway.
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Any thoughts or comments? We've had one play session and the party hasn't had time to talk much. I'm not sure what I'll call my background. I took the criminal background because it fit the best with my story idea. I'm not trying to hide the fact that I'm a thief from my party, but I'm not going to publicly announce it either. Do I need some kind of cover story if people ask what I do for a living?
Cool backstory and the smoke filled globe could make a great trinket (and future plot hook). My one comment would be that the bit about your friend and the dragon seems unnecessary, or at least underdeveloped. Focusing on the story with the Baron is your best bet imho.
As far as a cover goes, adventurer or sell sword work well enough. Most adventurers are just thieves with different skill sets ;)
Eh, the bit about the dragon may be there to give the player a reason to join up with the party, if they are dragon hunting as well for whatever reason. Otherwise, yeah, it seems a bit unnecessary.
Right now, your character has the following motivations that I can detect:
Begin a new life (with a new name) on the path to becoming the greatest thief in the world.
Learn some magic.
Be on the run from the Baron of Athkatla and/or his forces. (You still have his wife's memory in a trinket item.)
Be on the run from a rather well established thieves guild (that may have lots of connections elsewhere in the world).
Seek revenge on a dragon that ate your friend?
That last one seems sort of a throw away. Otherwise, yeah, you've got a nice solid foundation for a character with good motivations and story opportunities.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Yes, the dragon and friend part was added later. Our campaign is based on a dragon storyline and hook to bring the party together. I rolled and got something about the dragon killing my family and I want revenge, but that didn't fit with my story. So I adapted it to the friend version.
I also rolled and got the smoke orb as a random trinket, so I worked that in as well.
I figured, as it seemed sort of tacked on after the fact. you did make good use of that trinket item in your backstory though. I really like that little touch.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
short, simple, gives plot momentum and adds in other NPC's (that really helps a DM) The goal of you character ties into the party's goals. very nice. what you should do is talk about the other characters, about your bonds with them and a little background info about them too, it really helps out with your character development and it also helps out the dm.
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2nd Generation D&D nerd 10 years of experience
Currently DM: 3.5 Steampunk, Skyrim setting 3.5
Currently Playing: three 3.5e games and two 5e D&D games!
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I've been playing for a little more than a year, but my first character was kinda made for me. My group is starting a side campaign to take a break from the main one and we made new characters. So this was my first time building one from scratch. I wanted to try an Arcane Trickster and this is what I came up with. I emailed this to our DM, but the party won't know some key details until they come out in the story.
__
Cool backstory and the smoke filled globe could make a great trinket (and future plot hook). My one comment would be that the bit about your friend and the dragon seems unnecessary, or at least underdeveloped. Focusing on the story with the Baron is your best bet imho.
As far as a cover goes, adventurer or sell sword work well enough. Most adventurers are just thieves with different skill sets ;)
Eh, the bit about the dragon may be there to give the player a reason to join up with the party, if they are dragon hunting as well for whatever reason. Otherwise, yeah, it seems a bit unnecessary.
Right now, your character has the following motivations that I can detect:
That last one seems sort of a throw away. Otherwise, yeah, you've got a nice solid foundation for a character with good motivations and story opportunities.
Yes, the dragon and friend part was added later. Our campaign is based on a dragon storyline and hook to bring the party together. I rolled and got something about the dragon killing my family and I want revenge, but that didn't fit with my story. So I adapted it to the friend version.
I also rolled and got the smoke orb as a random trinket, so I worked that in as well.
I figured, as it seemed sort of tacked on after the fact. you did make good use of that trinket item in your backstory though. I really like that little touch.
short, simple, gives plot momentum and adds in other NPC's (that really helps a DM) The goal of you character ties into the party's goals. very nice. what you should do is talk about the other characters, about your bonds with them and a little background info about them too, it really helps out with your character development and it also helps out the dm.
2nd Generation D&D nerd 10 years of experience
Currently DM: 3.5 Steampunk, Skyrim setting 3.5
Currently Playing: three 3.5e games and two 5e D&D games!